NASA continues to test the J-2X engine and conducted a 40-second test of the rocket engine Sept. 28, the most recent in a series of tests of the next-generation engine selected as part of the Space Launch System architecture that will once again carry humans into deep space. It was a test at the 99 percent power level to gain a better understanding of start and shutdown systems as well as modifications that had been made from previous test firing results.

Orion Prepares for Next Round of Acoustic TestingThe Orion MPCV ground test vehicle is lifted into the acoustic chamber at Lockheed Martin’s facilities near Denver on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011, in preparation for the Launch Abort Vehicle Configuration Test. For this test, the MPCV, or multi-purpose crew vehicle, is covered with fillets and ogive panels which resemble the vehicle’s launch configuration. The spacecraft will undergo testing at sound pressure levels that emulate those experienced at launch and in the event an abort is needed to carry the crew to safety away from a potential problem on the launch pad or during ascent.

By Dominic Basulto – A handful of companies in the technology sector are sitting on a combined cash hoard of over $100 billion. The biggest cash reserve belongs to Apple, which is currently sitting on more than $76 billion in cash. Meanwhile, Google has $37 billion, Dell $11 billion, Qualcomm $5.6 billion and Accenture has $5.3 billion — all in cash on hand. To put this into perspective, the deficit-ridden Federal Government has less than $74 billion in cash at its disposal. At a time when every single measure to resuscitate the economy seems to have been exhausted, is it possible that Silicon Valley could be tapped to provide one last stimulus? more> http://tinyurl.com/3jmu7z4

By Charles Kenny – The idea of small businesses as indispensable to the national welfare dates to Thomas Jefferson’s veneration of the yeoman farmer. In the popular imagination, small firms are more nimble, more innovative, and more virtuous than blue-chip companies that employ thousands. Yet the notion that small business is the force behind prosperity is not true. The longer the U.S. and other countries cling to this myth, the harder it will be to carry out the kinds of economic policies that might actually stimulate job growth.

Given how many “small employers” are doctors, lawyers, money managers, and other ready sources of campaign finance, there is a good probability they will continue to be pampered by politicians. And some enterprises surely deserve a boost. The trouble is that government programs aimed at helping small businesses usually help the wrong kind. Many of these outfits were never meant to generate employment for anyone but their founders. Indiscriminate support for small business as a category takes resources away from entrepreneurs and companies that actually want to expand and create jobs. more> http://tinyurl.com/3ctxxm5

SLIDE SHOW: 1Reuters/smh.com.au – Dressed in specially designed All Nippon Airways livery, with a big, bold, blue “787” splashed at its fore, Boeing’sDreamliner flew from its Seattle birthplace to Tokyo on Tuesday (9/27/11), and, in just over a month, will begin active service for the Japanese carrier.

Dreamliner passengers can expect roomier seats, more storage and larger, manually dimmable windows. Economy class will see some luxury additions, with a bar, female-only lavatories and Panasonic entertainment on demand for every passenger. more> http://tinyurl.com/6b6ajwj

By Nathan Eddy – The group Free Press filed the lawsuit against the FCC Sept. 28 in the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. The organization is seeking review of the FCC’s December 2010 Open Internet order. Free Press, headquartered in Western Massachusetts, wants to challenge the “arbitrary nature of rule provisions” that provide less protection for mobile wireless Internet access than they do for wired connections as part of the FCC’s net neutrality proposal.

“When the FCC first proposed the Open Internet rules, they came with the understanding that there is only one Internet, no matter how people choose to reach it,” Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood said in a statement. “The final rules provide some basic protections for consumers, but do not deliver on the promise to preserve openness for mobile Internet access. They fail to protect wireless users from discrimination, and they let mobile providers block innovative applications with impunity.” more> http://tinyurl.com/3m9mjn5